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Tips for E-mail Tutoring

This page describes a number of strategies relating to situations that tutors at Purdue commonly face. Click on the question that seems most relevant to your situation, or feel free to email us to suggest other situation that should be addressed here.

• What if I get a question/request that's too vague to handle in one message?
• How do I handle "getting started" questions?
• What if I don't know the answer?
• How do I respond to a student who wants me to "correct" a paper or an exercise ?
• How do I keep the Owl email account in order?

What if I get a question/request that's too vague to handle in one message?

If you receive e-mail that's too complicated to address in one message, tell that to the writer. Explain why you can't answer the writer's question in one simple e-mail message, and pose your own questions--just as you'd do if a student came in to your writing center asking you simply to "read through" a paper.

Keep in mind, though, that the writer may not have time to undertake an extended exchange via e-mail (as is illustrated in discussion on the potential disadvantages of e-mail). Therefore, try to offer a helpful tip in addition to explaining why you can't provide an easy answer to a writer's question. For instance, if a writer asks you how to write a book report, you could explain why no easy answer exists for that question and ask for more information. At the same time, you might offer some general information that might help (i.e., "book reports generally have two parts: a summary of the book and an analysis of its value; some reports require more of one part than another") in case the student doesn't have time to write back again.

Also remember that a student may be confused by your response, so encourage that person to write again seeking clarification, etc.

How do I handle "getting started" questions?

Sometimes a writer will send you little more than a topic and ask you how to get started. You may see a message, for example, in which the writer asks for help in getting started on a paper on Dr. Martin Luther King. Such a vague request can seem overwhelming, but these messages can actually be fun to tackle.

Remember that you can't do everything in an e-mail message, and consider using one of the following strategies:

• ask questions about the assignment itself -- This may be especially useful if you want to help a writer come up with a more manageable topic. For example, ask the writer who will be reading the assignment, what the reader expects to see, how the assignment should be formatted, whether research is required.
• describe your favorite heuristic strategy -- If a student can't even come up with a topic, or doesn't know what to do with a topic, you might tell that student about what you'd do if you were in her/his shoes. What do you do when you're stumped about a topic? Remember that "getting started" questions may often be handled best through a give-and-take. In other words, a request can't be addressed in one e-mail message. In those cases, remember to try to offer something (such as a heuristic strategy) to the student while encouraging them to write again.

What if I don't know the answer?

Remember that tutors don't always have to have an answer. If you don't have a good answer for a student's question, say so. Then offer the student an option or two that might help her/him search for an answer. For example, you might tell a student about a search tool such as Yahoo or Excite. In fact, you might want to discuss search strategies even when you do know an answer. You may want to view an e-mail exchange as a teaching opportunity, as a chance to introduce a student to a specific research resource or strategy, rather than a mere question-and-answer session.

How do I respond to a student who wants me to "correct" a paper or an exercise?

In this case, guidelines for face-to-face tutorials can apply to an e-mail tutorial. Explain to the student why you don't want to proofread, and why it's not in the student's best interest simply to have you "correct" something. Remember, though, that you may want to offer the student a couple of options if time limits seem tight.

Housekeeping things (Keeping the OWL clean)

If you have signed up to take responsibility for OWL e-mail on a particular day, be sure to deal somehow with each piece of e-mail. Dealing with e-mail can mean:

• responding to it and deleting it
• forwarding it to someone else, if appropriate, or alerting someone else of its existence
• saving it to your own directory on OWL (using your last name) in order to deal with it later

It's important not to let email sit too long. Regardless of how you choose to deal with the e-mail, please remember one thing: Give preference to members of the Purdue community. Be sure that email from Purdue students and staff get answered as soon as possible.

Original text by Stuart Blythe (June 1997)

HTML coding & revisions by Tracey McHenry (July 1998)

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